George Patrick OToole Jr'

1
George Patrick OToole Jr.

• December 24th, 1943 December 12th, 1967
• Service Army
• Rank CPT
• Serial Number OF104942
• Component Regular
• Grade O3
• MOS 1542
• Length of Service 02
• Start of Tour 1967-05-09

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Who was George Patrick OToole?

• Pat was the oldest of 7 children and the
  leader of our family. He was the most tenacious
  person I have met in my life. Proud of his Irish
  heritage, he knew every Irish song and loved to
  sing them spontaneously. His death left a large
  hole in our family but his spirit ultimately
  carried us through. We were all lucky to have him
  as a family member, and though he is no longer
  with us here on Earth, I feel his spirit always.
  Pat was a graduate of West Point Military
  Academy. He was 23 and a captain in the Special
  Forces when he was killed in action. Pat was the
  product of beautiful loving parents George Gen
  OToole.
• - Robert James OToole

3
Mankato

• Mankato is a somewhat large town south of
  Minneapolis, Minnesota. I chose to research
  George OToole because my Dad hails from Mankato,
  as did my Grandfather, who ran the bus line for
  the entire town.
• Mankato isnt exactly famous, but it has held a
  United States record for 146 years the largest
  mass hanging in United States history. After
  the Sioux Uprising, a conflict between the
  settlers and Sioux tribes up in the Dakota area,
  and 264 captured Indians were going to be hanged.
  But Lincoln, being the kind soul that he was,
  decided that just the leaders, all 38 of them
  would suffice.

4

• Monument to the fallen Native Indians as well as
  white settlers in Mankato, Minnesota. It is now
  located across a busy intersection that is hard
  to reach.

5
Army Career

• Being in the 1st Regiment, I did not have a
  lot of contact with Pat my first two years as a
  cadet. Then, we were both assigned to the same
  infantry battalion in Schweinfurt for Cadet AOT
  (Army Orientation Training). Pat and I were
  neighbors in the BOQ as well. We spent a lot of
  time together over the 30 day period of AOT. He
  would go out for a run everyday, spend some time
  in the O-Club and plan for the next day's
  activities. He was serious about the training,
  but he also knew how to have a good time. His
  attitude was always upbeat and positive - a great
  guy to be around. I admired him immensely, as did
  the soldiers and other NCOs of his summer-time
  company.
• - Bob Frank (Army buddy)

6
Army Career Continued

• I served with him at Moc Hoa. I was an
  intelligence officer at the nearby B Camp, and we
  talked, argued, drank and went on at least one
  operation together. He was leading one of the
  most successful operations that I can recall in
  our area when he was killed. I was devastated
  when they brought him in. He was a young man of
  great spirit, a spirit that refused to be
  defeated in those most depressing of
  circumstances. That's how I'll always remember
  him speeding across the airstrip on a blue Vespa
  motor scooter, smiling.
• - Jim O'Hara, then First Lieutenant, U.S. Army
  Intelligence and Security, acting S 2 at Moc Hoa.

7
Death

• Several years later, we were in the same area
  in Vietnam. He was a Special Forces officer with
  a CIDG (Civilian Irregular Defense Group) unit in
  the Plain of Reeds I was an adviser to an ARVN
  (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) infantry
  battalion. The day he was killed, I heard his
  voice on the radio trying to coordinate air
  support and artillery support for the small group
  that had survived the initial ambush and assault
  on the patrol he was on. Pat remained calm on the
  radio, knowing that his situation was dire.
  Despite the air and artillery support, his small
  band could not hold off the Viet Cong unit that
  was closing in. Pat remained on station, doing
  his duty to the very end.
• - Bob Frank (An army buddy)

8
The Civilian Irregular Defense Group

• The CIDG were typically made up of ethnic
  groups (mainly the Montagnard) who didnt like or
  want to be affiliated with North and South
  Vietnam. To prevent them from becoming Commies,
  the USA sent special forces into Vietnam as early
  as 1961 to train them to counter VC attacks.
  Although many things in Vietnam went wrong, this
  was one of the few programs that actually worked.
  The CIDG were regarded as extremely effective and
  were transferred to the control of South Vietnam
  by 1969.

9

• CIDG Pictures

10
Plain of Reeds
11
Events that occurred in 1967

• January 27th Apollo one catches fire, killing
  the crew.
• March 9th Stalins daughter defects to the
  United States
• April 20th Surveyor 3 probe lands on the moon.
• April 28th Muhammad Ali refuses to join the
  army
• June 5th Beginning of Israels Six Day War.
• June 25th 400 million people watch Our World on
  the first international satellite TV broadcast.
• August 30th Thurgood Marshall becomes the first
  black Justice of the Supreme Court.
• September 3rd Nguyen Van Thieu is becomes
  president of South Vietnam
• October 9th Che Guevara is executed.
• December 2nd Elizabeth II becomes Queen of
  England.
• December 12th - George Patrick OToole Jr. is
  killed in Vietnam.

1967
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7th Infantry Division

• The 7th Infantry Division is one of Americas
  oldest combat units, which apparently first saw
  action at the Battle of New Orleans under Andrew
  Jackson in the War of 1812. The men under this
  division were most famous in the Vietnam War for
  the defense of Saigon during the Tet Offensive.
• Rather than the usual hit and run tactics which
  the VC and NVA favored, the Tet Offensive and
  battle of Saigon were more typical army vs. army
  fighting and was one of the largest battles
  throughout the entire war.

13
Battle for Saigon
14
Battle for Saigon Continued
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Dinh Tuong

• The Dinh Tuong region where Captain OToole was
  killed in is just one third the size of Rhode
  Island and was under constant bombardment from
  B-52s. At the time, 65 of all bombing raids were
  commenced in the South. In Dinh Tuong
  specifically, the bombs were dropped on Viet Cong
  who were safely hidden in their extensive tunnel
  systems. Most the victims were innocent farmers,
  both young and old who were caught out in the
  open.

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• Monument in Mankato

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(No Transcript)
18
Vietnam War 1959-1975

• Fall of Saigon. April 30, 1975

19
Works Cited Part One

• "1967." Wikipedia. 27 Mar. 2008
  lthttp//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967gt.
• 27 Mar. 2008 lthttp//cla.calpoly.edu/lcall/204/8-
  10/fall_of_saigon.jpggt.
• 27 Mar. 2008 lthttp//weeklygeekshow.com/images/apo
  calypse_now1.jpggt.
• 27 Mar. 2008 lthttp//www.deta114.org/images/bong_s
  on_pics/all_order/2_5_Cadre20Training.jpggt.
• 27 Mar. 2008 lthttp//www.landscaper.net/images/FB3
  7.JPGgt.
• 27 Mar. 2008 lthttp//www.makingthemodernworld.org.
  uk/stories/defiant_modernism/07.ST.01/img/IM.1080_
  zl.jpggt.
• 27 Mar. 2008 lthttp//www.mooremilitaria.com/CIDG2
  0Strike20Force.jpggt.
• 27 Mar. 2008 lthttp//www.mrcmekong.org/img/program
  mes/fisheries/cc_v13_1/chim.gifgt.
• 27 Mar. 2008 lthttp//www.rugbytales.com/popsmoke/i
  mages/rvnabn10.jpggt.
• 27 Mar. 2008 lthttp//www.tate.org.uk/tateetc/issue
  1/img/i1_a4_4.jpggt.
• 27 Mar. 2008 lthttp//www.vietamericanvets.com/VAVV
  N-pic33.jpggt.
• 27 Mar. 2008 lthttp//www.vietnamwar.com/tetoffensi
  ve.jpggt.
•  
• Atwood, Paul, comp. "Vietnam War." Encarta. 2007.
  MSN. Austin. 24 Mar. 2008. Keyword Vietnam War.
• I learned that the entire conflict in Vietnam
  came about well before 1963. The French had
  occupied it from 1946 to 1954, and got chewed up
  pretty bad. Right after this war, Vietnam became
  divided with a Communist North and a non
  Communist South, and the North wanted to unify
  the country. The Republic of Vietnam officially
  fell in 1976. 3.2 million Vietnamese died, while
  roughly 2 million Cambodians and Lao died during
  the whole conflict. America lost 58,000 soldiers.
  Contrary to popular belief, America didn't just
  show up in 1959. The general area was going
  through wars since 1880 from both the French and
  Japanese. In 1945, Ho Chi Minh seized the
  opportunity of Japan's surrender and attempted to
  unify Vietnam as I stated earlier. After he drove
  out the French and targeted Vietnam, the USA
  decided to protect the "Free Republic" and the
  Vietnam War began.
•  
• "Bayonets" 27 Mar. 2008 lthttp//www.carson.army.mi
  l/UNITS/F7ID/F7ID.htmgt.
•  

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Works Cited Part Two

• Caputo, Philip. A Rumor of War. New York Holt
  Paperbacks, 1996. 1-356.
• Philip Caputo's Rumor of War is an account of
  Philip's tour through Vietnam. He joined the
  officer corp and became the leader of a squad.
  This book is great so to speak because a lot of
  it is about his thinking as he traverses through
  the jungles of Vietnam, afraid that at any
  moment, a booby trap will go off and kill him.
  This book explains that Vietnam was not like
  World War II or even Korea because there was no
  real defined enemy. At the end of the book, he
  gets frustrated by this and orders the killing of
  two young boys who he speculated were Viet Cong.
  He was wrong, and went to military court for it.
  He points out that it wasn't his fault the war
  made him crazy, doing things he would never ever
  do in any normal circumstances.
• "Casualty Record for George Patrick Jr O Toole."
  No-Quarter.Org. 24 Mar. 2008 lthttp//www.no-quarte
  r.org/code/details.cgi?IDNOOF104942gt.
• "Civilian Irregular Defense Group." Wikipedia. 27
  Mar. 2008 lthttp//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_I
  rregular_Defense_Groupgt.
• "Dinh Tuong Hell in a Small Place." Time 11
  Sept. 1972. 24 Mar. 2008 lthttp//www.time.com/time
  /magazine/article/0,9171,906326,00.html?iidchix-s
  pheregt.
• Esper, George. The Eyewitness History of the
  Vietnam War 1961-1975. New York Ballantine
  Books, 1983. 2-200.
• Vietnam was the second war where men would serve
  for tours, lasting roughly a year as opposed to
  fighting through the whole thing, with the first
  being Korea. The soldiers would look forward to
  this, only to be killed a few months, weeks, days
  or even hours before the end of their tour. Im
  sure it played mind games on all the men,
  especially knowing they werent even dying for a
  just cause.
•  
• Kutler, Stanley I., ed. "The Tet Offensive and
  Aftershocks." Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War.
  New York Charles Scribner's Sons, 1996.
• The Tet Offensive was launched on February, 1968
  during the Tet Holiday, attacking several large
  South Vietnamese cities. American leaders assumed
  that the North Vietnamese were on the verge of
  collapsing, that the end of the war would be in
  the near future, but the Tet Offensive proved
  them to be wrong. For the North Vietnamese, Tet
  was a complete disaster. They lost roughly five
  men for every South Vietnamese and American ally
  who died. But thanks to stupid reporters who
  showed clips like the US Embassy being overrun,
  they convinced the people of the United States
  that the war was being lost. We then proceeded to
  lose a war that didn't make a whole of sense to
  begin with.

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Works Cited Part Three

• Kutler, Stanley I., ed. "The Tet Offensive and
  Aftershocks." Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War.
  New York Charles Scribner's Sons, 1996.
• The Tet Offensive was launched on February, 1968
  during the Tet Holiday, attacking several large
  South Vietnamese cities. American leaders assumed
  that the North Vietnamese were on the verge of
  collapsing, that the end of the war would be in
  the near future, but the Tet Offensive proved
  them to be wrong. For the North Vietnamese, Tet
  was a complete disaster. They lost roughly five
  men for every South Vietnamese and American ally
  who died. But thanks to stupid reporters who
  showed clips like the US Embassy being overrun,
  they convinced the people of the United States
  that the war was being lost. We then proceeded to
  lose a war that didn't make a whole of sense to
  begin with.
• Frank, Bob. "George Patrick O'Toole, USMA '65."
  West-Point.Org. 28 Jan. 2008. 24 Mar. 2008
  lthttp//defender.west-point.org/service/display.mh
  tml?u25990i40752gt.
• Mankato, Mankato. Mankato Area Memorials. Blue
  Earth-Nicollet Counties Vietnam Veterans'
  Memorial. 27 Mar. 2008 lthttp//www.isd77.k12.mn.us
  /schools/dakota/vietnam/mankato.htmgt.
• McManus, John C. "Tet Offensive 7th Infantry
  Regiment in Saigon." Vietnam Feb. 2004. 27 Mar.
  2008 lthttp//www.historynet.com/magazines/vietnam/
  3025856.html?page4cygt.
• O'Hara, James. Address.
• O'hara, James. "A Good Buddy, a Fine Officer."
  VVMF. 1 June 2000. 25 Mar. 2008
  lthttp//www.vvmf.org//index.cfm?SectionID110anCl
  ip20827gt.
• O'hara, James. "A Good Buddy, a Fine Officer."
  VVMF. 1 June 2000. 25 Mar. 2008
  lthttp//www.vvmf.org//index.cfm?SectionID110anCl
  ip20827gt.
• Spector, Ronald H. After Tet the Bloodiest Year
  in Vietnam. New York Vintage, 1994. 1-432.
• After Tet explains how Vietnam was an entirely
  meaningless war because we decided to prop up an
  inept and corrupt government which really didn't
  have a strong urge to uphold the values and
  virtues of Democracy as we believed and wanted
  them to believe. North Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh
  were much craftier than we gave them credit for,
  and thought of themselves as a unifying body
  rather than the Communist oppresors as we made
  them out to be. Unbeknown to the majority of the
  US, South Vietnam actually liked Ho Chi Minh and
  wanted to reunite with their Northern Vietnamese
  counterparts right after an election was held.
  The USA assumed they wouldn't do this, and then
  claimed the elections were null and void and the
  Vietnam War became a reality. Basically, US
  Imperialism is bad.
•  
• "The Combined Special Forces CIDG on the
  Offensive." History.Army.Mil. 28 Mar. 2008
  lthttp//www.history.army.mil/books/vietnam/90-23/9
  0-235.htmgt.

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SWWestlake High SchoolV. Taylor